3. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

By Alan Bradley (370 pp).

I really hate the title of this book, but that's the only part I don't like. My cousin Jennifer recommended the book and I loved it. The protagonist is 11-year-old Flavia de Luce and she's a total smart ass and hilarious. She finds a man dying in the garden and gets involved in solving the mystery. I wish I was in Mr. Bradley's crit group because I would have had suggestions about the ending because it didn't completely work for me. But fun book. Recommend.

2. The Last of the Live Nude Girls

By Sheila McClear (243 pp)

During the holiday break I started at least 5 different books and every time I sat down to read I'd pile them all around me and take turns reading from each one. In regular life I rarely read more than one thing at a time because my concentration is crap plus I don't have huge amounts of time to read so can't remember what's going on if I have too many books going. Now holiday break is long over and I have these books half read. The other night when I couldn't sleep I went into the living room to read and this was the book I grabbed. It's grim reading at 2am. It's a memoir about a woman who moves to NYC and ends up working peep shows to earn money. She comes unraveled before she gets it together. Interesting look peep show business.

1. It's So Easy and Other Lies

By Duff McKagan (361 pp.)

I LOVED this book. I loved it as much as you can love a book where the hero's pancreas explodes because he drinks so much. Ten bottles of wine a day — that was when he was trying to stay away from the hard stuff. Try to wrap your head around that. Ten bottles a day. Yikes. It's amazing what the human body can survive. Duff started out in bands when he was a teenager and was in Guns 'N Roses. He came back from total disaster. Recommend.

Book List for 2012 Starts Here

Only 30 books this year. Not great. I'd like to do better.

But I read 149 short stories/novellas/novelettes. And that's not everything. I don't always keep track of the shorter stuff.

I had some busy times where not much reading happened.

I'm not making any reading goals for 2012 except to read more than 30 books. Especially since I bought or was given at least 40 books in the last 6 weeks. Must keep ahead.

My favorites were The Miracle of Castel Di Sangro by Joe McGinniss, A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan and Bob Mould, See a Little Light.